Sherbrooke engineering students show off electric concept car at CES 2014

Engineering students from Universite de Sherbrooke rolled out their urban electric concept vehicle – Project VUE (Vehicle Urbain Electrique) – at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 in Las Vegas this week. Based on a 2006-model Smart Fortwo Coupe chassis, Project VUE is an ongoing senior project for engineering students.

Initiated two years ago, the initial conversion of the ForTwo focused on improving reliability of the battery, power supply and other electrical systems. The all electric vehicle sports a top speed of 75 mph and a range of about 40 miles. The current VUE concept vehicle weighs 1,741 pounds with a 77-inch wheelbase.

In its latest incarnation, on display at CES this week, the VUE features semi-autonomous driver-assistance systems and improved all-digital instrument, infotainment and vehicle diagnostic displays. It’s radar- and camera-based obstacle and road-sign detection systems enable automatic speed adjustment and are designed to help drivers safely react to obstacles and dangerous driving conditions.

Project VUE also partnered with Finish automotive embedded hardware and software development company, Elektrobit, to create the car’s HMI systems. The Sherbrooke team used the company’s GUIDE 5.5 development platform to create the VUE’s fully digital instrument cluster, an infotainment system based on the QNX Neutrino Realtime Operating System and vehicle diagnostic displays.

Future development objectives will include the extension of driver-assistance functions for completely autonomous driving and voice controls.
http://vue2013.gel.usherbrooke.ca
www.elektrobit.com